http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/international/asia/13herat.html?th=&pagewanted=print&position=September 13, 2004
Afghan Crowds Loot and Burn Over Governor's Dismissal
By CARLOTTA GALL
HERAT, Afghanistan, Sept. 12 - Violent demonstrators ransacked and burned at least four United Nations office compounds and a human rights office here on Sunday as they clashed with the national police and army in an angry protest at the removal of Gov. Ismail Khan by the central government. Four people were killed and up to 50 wounded, most of them civilian demonstrators suffering from gunshot wounds, doctors at the provincial hospital said. Fifteen American soldiers and two national army soldiers were injured, mostly from stones and bricks hurled at them, said Anne Bodine, an American State Department official based in Herat.
The violence and extensive damage was a major blow to the central government of President Hamid Karzai, which had sent 1,000 soldiers and hundreds of national police officers to secure the area for the arrival of the new governor from Kabul. Now, with the Oct. 9 elections nearing, the United Nations' activities will be severely hampered in the whole western part of the country.
The police chief of Herat ordered a general curfew after 9 p.m. and banned any large gatherings. At the urging of the American ambassador in Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad, Mr. Khan went on local television to ask citizens not to be angry at his dismissal and not to destroy property and cause instability.
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